Cardinal Angelo De Donatis was a parish priest as recently as 2014 but has since rapidly risen up the ecclesiastical ranks to become a bishop, cardinal, Vicar General of Rome, and now head of the Apostolic Penitentiary.

Born on January 4, 1954, in Casarano, Italy, De Donatis studied at the seminary of Taranto and then at the Pontifical Roman Major Seminary, completing his philosophical studies at the Pontifical Lateran University and his theological studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University, where he obtained a licentiate in moral theology.

He was ordained priest in 1980 for the diocese of Nardò-Gallipoli and in 1983 was incardinated in the diocese of Rome.

He has held various administrative roles: clerk, archivist, director of clergy office, as well as being a spiritual director at the Roman seminary and a teacher of religion.

In 1989 he was admitted to the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem with the rank of Knight.

De Donatis was relatively obscure until 2013 when he was reportedly among seven Roman priests chosen by Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu to dine with Pope Francis two weeks after the Pope’s election. Despite only meeting De Donatis on that occasion, Francis chose him to preach the 2014 Lenten meditations for the Spiritual Exercises of the Roman Curia. For 50 years that assignment had only been given to a cardinal or well-known theologian.

In September 2015, Pope Francis appointed him auxiliary bishop of Rome where he was responsible for the training of the clergy.

After just two years as a bishop, Francis then appointed De Donatis Vicar General of Rome and Archpriest of the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran.

The appointment was notable as De Donatis became the first person since the sixteenth century to be named Vicar General when not a cardinal. Pope Francis elevated him to the College of Cardinals in 2018.

In April 2024, Cardinal De Donatis was appointed as the Major Penitentiary, leading the Apostolic Penitentiary, a Vatican court known as the “tribunal of Mercy.” The court handles cases of excommunication and serious sin, where absolution is reserved to the Holy See, and has the right to grant indulgences.

De Donatis faced several controversies during his tenure as Vicar of Rome. In March 2020, on the instruction of Pope Francis, he closed every church in Rome to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A day later, after a media backlash, Pope Francis said in a morning homily that such “drastic measures aren’t always good” and he and De Donatis reversed the decision. The cardinal publicly took responsibility for both decisions, saying that the order to close churches was not made out of “an irrational fear or, worse, a pragmatism devoid of evangelical hope, but out of obedience to the will of God.” De Donatis himself was tested positive for COVID-19 later that month and was hospitalized.

In 2021, Pope Francis initiated the first financial audit of the Diocese of Rome under De Donatis’ leadership, though no findings were published. Additionally, De Donatis faced criticism for questioning the Vatican’s decision to excommunicate Father Marko Rupnik, a disgraced former Jesuit artist accused of abusing women religious.

Despite appointing De Donatis to various leadership positions over the past decade, Pope Francis took steps to limit his authority. In January 2023 while De Donatis was still Vicar of Rome, he downgraded the role, redefining it as an “auxiliary” position and giving himself final say over various diocesan decisions.

As Vicar General, the Italian prelate took several significant steps to restrict the Traditional Latin Mass in Rome following Pope Francis’ 2021 apostolic letter Traditionis Custodes. Cardinal De Donatis stated that the measures were taken to “exercise a keen pastoral charity towards the faithful” while also implementing the directives of Traditionis Custodes.

On same-sex blessings, De Donatis backed the Vatican’s declaration Fiducia Supplicans, saying it does not change Church doctrine on marriage. He stated that “people are blessed, not sin” and that the declaration’s intention is to bless people, not organizations.

As Vicar of Rome, he also supported Pope Francis’ initiatives on “ecological conversion,” including the launch of a new academic program at the Pontifical Lateran University dedicated to “Care for our common home and safeguarding creation.”